It should be noted that this is a)an offically-released teaser image, and b)Sony have explicitly stated that this ISN'T a black and white photo. So Spidey's sporting the black threads, even if the design isn't the classic solid black of the Secret Wars incarnation. Take note, X3: This is how you build fan anticipation.

It sure looks better than the symbiote costume he sported after "Secret Wars." Remember, though, that the whole symbiote to Venom thing took awhile, so it's not a foregone conclusion that Eddie Brock will appear as Venom in the movie.

Are we sure that that is the black costume and not just his regular costume in such a light so as to appear one color? Maybe its my imagination, but I can almost make out the slight red and blue hues where they should be. I have a strong feeling that this picture was released just to tease all of us into the exact "OMG" reaction everyone is having and in the end, there will be no symbiote.

Now watch me be proven wrong.

Edit: Specifically, look at his knees and tell me they are not dark dark dark blue.

Originally posted by Deputy MarshallIt sure looks better than the symbiote costume he sported after "Secret Wars." Remember, though, that the whole symbiote to Venom thing took awhile, so it's not a foregone conclusion that Eddie Brock will appear as Venom in the movie.

I don't think they'd set up sometihng as wildly popular as the Spidey/Venom saga when there's a chance-albeit a very slim one-that they would never deliver it. Foreshadowing a sequel storyline is one thing, but spending a large chunk of one movie setting up its successor is quite another. Plus there's a pretty detailed set of spoilers from what's cited as a strong source over at AICN that makes it explicitly clear that Parker's not gonna be the only guy wearing that costume. Venom'll be in the movie, I have no doubt about that.

EDIT: Eddie, not only have Sony said its not in black and white, they've also put up a Daily Bugle front page with the headline "Spidey Wears A Black Costume!", and a blurb saying "Spider-Man will be sporting black in Spider-Man 3". It's a black costume.

You can tell it's a color image because of the blue shading on the big "3" logo.It's already been confirmed (I read it on imdb.com sometime back) that Topher Grace is Venom and Thomas Hayden Church is Sandman. I suppose we'll get just a bit of the Sandman, more as a setup for the Sinister Six than anything.And as far as setting up storylines and not paying them off, it appears there'll be no time in this movie for The Lizard, even though Dr. Connors has already appeared, and for Green Goblin 2/Hobgoblin or whatever, even though Harry found the secret room at the end of Spidey 2.So it appears this series is indeed about LONG setups.

My guess: Spider-Man will have to deal with both the Sandman and the new Green Goblin in this movie. Eddie Brock will be introduced, but will NOT become Venom (yet). Spidey will don the symbiote suit very late in the film (probably during the final climactic battle), but the suit won't "turn" on him until "Spider-Man 4".

I want them to do THE original story - symbiote is hurt that spidey left him, finds Brock, they make hell for MJ and Peter (which right there makes the end of S2 OK in my book, although I hated it at the time) and Spidey defeats them like he did originally.

Although that COULD take up two movies. Eddie could be introduced in S3 and humiliated, and the black costume could appear. Spidey could get rid of the black costume in the tower, then go on to fight Sandman. Eddie and the symbiote could be the main villain in S4.

With the anticipation being built over Sandman's debut and Harry's potential turn towards the dark side, I could see Venom being pushed back until the next movie. I really like the idea of Topher Grace being brought in as Eddie Brock to play Peter Parker's rival at the Bugle, building to the inevitable intro as Venom at the end of the film.

The question is how does the black costume come into play? The Secret War origin is out for obvious reasons. Does the origin from the 90's animated series play out (the symbiote tags along inside a shuttle after a John Jameson expedition to the moon) or does Sam Raimi go with bits and pieces of the Ultimate Spider-man origin (Brock and Parker are friends collaborating on creating the symbiote to eat away cancer cells)? Either way, I am so there in 2007 to find out.

Originally posted by oldschoolheroEDIT: Eddie, not only have Sony said its not in black and white, they've also put up a Daily Bugle front page with the headline "Spidey Wears A Black Costume!", and a blurb saying "Spider-Man will be sporting black in Spider-Man 3". It's a black costume.

(edited by oldschoolhero on 24.2.06 1032)

And as predicted, I am proven wrong. Thanks for the info. If anyone else is interested: the Bugle headline (spiderman.sonypictures.com).

Originally posted by Parts UnknownI've never understood the fan hate for Venom and I, for one, CAN'T WAIT for this movie. Wow.

For my part, I don't hate Venom but I don't see why he's such a great Spider-Man villain--so great he has to be trotted out for the movies. His whole appeal seems to be the angle that Spider-Man's legendary alien costume turned against him and is trying to eat his brain. Not that Doctor Octopus or the Sandman are any more complicated, but at least they provide interesting visuals--Spider-Man fighting Venom is just two guys in Spider-Man costumes, and one has a big tongue. The concept of the doppleganger is always fascinating, but the movies run the risk of going down the same path the comics did in the '90s--Spider-Man and Scarlet Spider vs. Venom and Carnage month in and month out.

I'm skeptical that they can adapt the Venom storyline into the movies. The comics had the benefit of the whole Marvel Universe to explain where Peter would get an alien costume to begin with, along with years of establishing the black suit so that it meant something when it turned on Spidey. Here we're going to have Peter discover an alien life-form out of the blue, wear it for maybe 45 minutes, and then have to battle it for maybe another 45 minutes. It's going to seem very very rushed unless they save the Eddie Brock part of the story for Spider-Man 4.

Originally posted by Parts UnknownI've never understood the fan hate for Venom and I, for one, CAN'T WAIT for this movie. Wow.

For my part, I don't hate Venom but I don't see why he's such a great Spider-Man villain--so great he has to be trotted out for the movies. His whole appeal seems to be the angle that Spider-Man's legendary alien costume turned against him and is trying to eat his brain. Not that Doctor Octopus or the Sandman are any more complicated, but at least they provide interesting visuals--Spider-Man fighting Venom is just two guys in Spider-Man costumes, and one has a big tongue. The concept of the doppleganger is always fascinating, but the movies run the risk of going down the same path the comics did in the '90s--Spider-Man and Scarlet Spider vs. Venom and Carnage month in and month out.

I'm skeptical that they can adapt the Venom storyline into the movies. The comics had the benefit of the whole Marvel Universe to explain where Peter would get an alien costume to begin with, along with years of establishing the black suit so that it meant something when it turned on Spidey. Here we're going to have Peter discover an alien life-form out of the blue, wear it for maybe 45 minutes, and then have to battle it for maybe another 45 minutes. It's going to seem very very rushed unless they save the Eddie Brock part of the story for Spider-Man 4.

Spider-Man is all about power & responsibility.Venom is power without responsibility. He has no conscience, no guilt, and no remorse. That's the whole purpose of his character, at least in the right hands.

Originally posted by Parts UnknownI've never understood the fan hate for Venom and I, for one, CAN'T WAIT for this movie. Wow.

For my part, I don't hate Venom but I don't see why he's such a great Spider-Man villain--so great he has to be trotted out for the movies. His whole appeal seems to be the angle that Spider-Man's legendary alien costume turned against him and is trying to eat his brain. Not that Doctor Octopus or the Sandman are any more complicated, but at least they provide interesting visuals--Spider-Man fighting Venom is just two guys in Spider-Man costumes, and one has a big tongue. The concept of the doppleganger is always fascinating, but the movies run the risk of going down the same path the comics did in the '90s--Spider-Man and Scarlet Spider vs. Venom and Carnage month in and month out.

I'm skeptical that they can adapt the Venom storyline into the movies. The comics had the benefit of the whole Marvel Universe to explain where Peter would get an alien costume to begin with, along with years of establishing the black suit so that it meant something when it turned on Spidey. Here we're going to have Peter discover an alien life-form out of the blue, wear it for maybe 45 minutes, and then have to battle it for maybe another 45 minutes. It's going to seem very very rushed unless they save the Eddie Brock part of the story for Spider-Man 4.

Spider-Man is all about power & responsibility.Venom is power without responsibility. He has no conscience, no guilt, and no remorse. That's the whole purpose of his character, at least in the right hands.

Originally, the sole purpose of the character, at least as a foe for Spidey, was that both Eddie Brock and the Symbiote were fueled by mutual rage for Peter. Add to that the Symbiote shared all of Peter's secrets (loved ones, fighting weaknesses, etc.) with Eddie. The icing on the cake was that he was the first major villain to be immune to Spider-Sense, taking away one of Peter's biggest weapons.

Going back to the topic, it took me all day, but I think I've come around to the idea of an all-black version of the original costume. I love the comic version of the black costume, but there's no way it could come across as believable on screen. The Sony page telling us, "No REALLY, it's a BLACK SUIT...we mean it!" is kinda wierd, though. It's like they knew the fanbase wouldn't accept the teaser poster as is, so they threw that up there.

There's some rumors going around that at some point in the movie it could end up in tag-team action: Venom/Sandman vs Spidey/Goblin

While that completely flies in the face of the comics (except for the very end of Harry's run), I think I'd be okay with that twist as long as it was done well. The only thing I can't figure out is how Gwen Stacy is supposed to fit in all this. I would've much prefered Felicia Hardy.

I'm wondering if that photo isn't a shot of something at the end of the movie.

They already set up Harry as the next villian, and Sandman's also in it. With Venom that would make three major characters to introduce and have seperate stories too (even if Harry's is already introduced, there's a lot to tell in establishing him as a villian and only soo much time left in the movie). The first movie was supposed to Doc Ock in it too but they realized it would be too crowded so he got moved to the second with Black Cat, who got bumped for the same reason. I can't see them deciding to add this many main characters in the third.

I'm thinking that "Venom" doesn't really show up until right near the end of this one to get ready for Spiderman 4, like how Harry didn't become a "villan" until his last scene. That pose looks like an awesome shot to end a movie with.

Originally posted by Freeway420Spider-Man is all about power & responsibility.Venom is power without responsibility. He has no conscience, no guilt, and no remorse. That's the whole purpose of his character, at least in the right hands.

See, though, the Green Goblin had that purpose all sewn up years before Venom did, in both the comics and the movies. I mean, I'm not going to argue whether Gobby is a better villain than Venom, but he got there first.

Originally posted by SchippeWreckOriginally, the sole purpose of the character, at least as a foe for Spidey, was that both Eddie Brock and the Symbiote were fueled by mutual rage for Peter.

I think this is a better assessment. Venom is all about years of unwarranted hostility towards Peter Parker, unleashed in a form that's the most dangerous to him. But to make that work, you need the slow burn--Topher Grace or whoever's playing Brock can't just get scooped by Peter in the first 10 minutes of the film and properly translate Brock from comics to film.

As it stands, the best way to handle Venom is already being used to handle Harry Osborn/Green Goblin II. Do we really need two guys grumbling about Spider-Man until they stumble onto the means to exact revenge?